Strategic supply chain management initiatives and the barriers to implementation in the eThekwini Metropolitan in KZN Provincial hospitals.

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Abstract

The primary focus of the healthcare sector has been to provide patients with the best quality of care. The researcher has chosen seventy two (72) senior management of the nine KwaZulu Natal Provincial hospital as the population size because they are involved in the crafting of the strategy and its implemantation. The research participants of this research were senior managerial staff and Supply Chain Management practitioners who were working in the nine Provincial hospitals in KwaZulu Natal in the EThekwini Municipality – by very nature they were suitable candidates for purposive sampling. In order to answer the research questions, a survey questionnaire was distributed to senior managerial staff and Supply Chain Management practitioners who were working in Provincial hospitals in KwaZulu Natal in the EThekwini Municipality. Respondents were asked to provide their perceptions of characteristics of successful health care supply chain initiatives, barriers to implementation on the overall organizational performance and effectiveness in their organizations, and the current state of the Provincial Hospital on Supply Chain Management. The study results identified ten (10) critical factors that are deemed as barriers to implementation of strategic supply chain management and ten (10) initiatives to be adopted. The study concluded by identifying four (4) practices that needs to be adopted and implemented in order to improve the existing situation. The sample design was non-probability sampling since the representativeness of sample was not critical and the research had to be completed within a short time frame. The sampling technique selected was judgement sampling because the subjects were selected on the basis of their expertise in the subject investigated. The delay in the approval process by the heads of the participating hospitals presented a major challenge in conducting this study. Data collection was also a challenge because the problem of internet connectivity by participants was only discovered very late when the response rate was nearly zero. The participants only had access to intranet whilst the study was internet bases using QuestionPro. These delays resulted in the researcher having to wait for in excess of two months before handing in hard copies to recipients.

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